Closure expander



. oct. 2s, 192e. 1,604,591

s.l B. MERRY CLOSURE EXPANDER Filed' NOV. 25,` 1925 INVENTOR Y MMM/6. f BY WQ// ATTORNEY Patented @oto Zhi,

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SE'WRD B. MERRY, OF BERKELEY, CALL'I'OBNEA, ASSlG'NR TO THE REPUBLC STEEL PACKAGE COMFANY, OF RJCQHIMIOND, CATJIFRNA, A CORPORATION Glu CALIFRN GLGSBE EXPANDER.

Application field November My invention relates to tools adapted to be used tor expanding closures or covers for sheet metal barrels or similar containers in which various materials are shipped. ln some tools of this class rollers are employed, and handles are so arranged as to torce the rollers outward, at least one oi. them so that, by a circular' sweep of the handles, the rollers will bite into the metal and thereby expand the side walls oi' the cover. and the container walls with which the covers contact in order to eiiect a seal 'for the openingl of the container. This method, however, has the disadvantage that, it the metal is of uneven hardness or thickness, one roller will bite deeper into the metal than the others and thereby either cause the cover to turn or prevent complete turning` of the tool tor the eilective sealingI of the container;` which may Vthus be rendered useless 'for `turther service and for that reason discarded. A considerable waste of material is thus entailed, and a considerable amount o'l labor is expended without profitable result. Y

Other devices accomplish the expansion of the cover wall by dies, which are moved outward by a lever and turned to different positions by a handle so as to swag'e the side wall ot the cover until a seal 'lor the container `gradually effected. This method requires a number oit re-positionings ot the tool before a seal is made, and is too slow to be economically practical.

rlhe principal object of my invention is to provide a number of rol ers in a rotatable member mounted on a dislr, and to slidably secure a number oi: segments to the 'disk outside of the member, and to provide *0 each segment with a projecting element adapted to contact with the rollers so as to cause the segments to move outward to closnre-expanding); position when the member is rotated. By this construction the peripheral expansion of the closure wall and the con- 3'3, 1925. Serial N0. 70,833.

invention will appear in the subjoined description of the accompanying sheet of drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan oi' my improved closure expander with a portion broken away, showing a movable segment and a roller to torce the same outwardly; Fig. 2 is a side elevation or Fig. 1 with a portion shown in section on the center line;

3 is a bottom plan of the' invention showing the segments in normal position in full lines and in expanded position in dot j and-dash lines;

is a similar but partial plan ot 3, showing; in particular a segment moved to its outermost position by one of the rollers;

5 shows in vertical mid-section, but drawn to a small scale, a cover positioned initially in the head or top of abarrel or container; and

Fig. 6 is a view similar to 5 but with the cover and head as expanded by my invent-ion, forming a scaled closure for the container. l

Adverting to the drawing` and figures thereof, l indicate in general by the numeral 10 my invention of a closure expander per se.

ln the closure expander l provide a dish 11, which has on one ot its side faces a bear ino; bracket 12 provided with an overhang ing,` arm 13. ltotatably mounted in the dislr. 11 and the arm 13 is a shaft lil which extends a distance beyond the tace ot the dish opposite to the bracket 12 and is squared at its extremity, as at 15. A member 16, which has centrally a square openinb, the square end 15, the dislr 11 preferably 'being recessed so that the member is set partly into the dislr and adapted to rotate there in, as shown in Fig. 2. rl`he member 16" is reel-shaped and has equidistantly arranged therein a number ot rollers 17 rotatably mounted on suitable screws 18, which are screwed 'into holes near to andequidistant 0' is fixed onl Yfrom the periphery oif the member 16, so

ments 19 slidably secured to the disk 11 by bolts 20, which extend through elongated slots 21 in the disk. The segments are equal in number' to the rollers 17, and the slots 21 extend radially and are arranged eeuidistantly from each other adjacent to, a d equidistant from the periphery ot the disk, the arrangement being such that the side edges 22 of adjoining' segments contact with cach other, and the inner peripheries 23 ot the segments contact with the rollers 17 ,`while the joined outer peripheries 24 ot the segments virtually form a circle, the joined ments being ot a diameter adapted te .fit loosely within a closure 25V tor a container 26. In each segment an element 27 in the shape of a round disk is torce-d into a bore formed at the inner edge of the segment, and the bolt 20, which holds Jthe segment slidably secured to the disk 11 is partially threaded into the element at its circumference and thereby further secures the element to the segment and prevents it from turning therein (see Figs. 1 and 2), se that the elements 27 are thus virtually integral with their respective segments 19 and project therefrom toward the member 16. The elements are seated directly in the circular path of the rollers 17, so that the elements are thereby adapted to contact with the rollers for causing the segments to move outward to closure-expanding position when the member 16 is rotated. is preferably frusto-conical in shapeY at its outer periphery 24 andextends beyond the disk periphery, as is most clearly shown in Fig. 2, and the periphery'2 is further provided with a groove 29 tor seating therein a parted annular spring 30 of wire, which is adapted to move the segments inward from the closure expanding position when the member 16 is rotated so that the rollers 17 are moved away from the elements 27 and out of Contact therewith.

Between the bracket arm 13 and the disk 11 is secured upon the shaft 14, as by a key 9, a worm gea-r 31 inmesh with a worm 32 having a shaft rotatably mounted on the side of the bearing bracket 12 and in rightangled relation to the shaft 111 and extends at one end beyond the disk 11 and is squared y at its extremity, as shown 3ft, in order to receive thereon a handle 35 for the manual operation of the closure-expander 10. Air other handle 36 is secured to the disk 11 for the operators convenience in handling the device.

The operation ot the closure expander is as follows: The closure 25, which before expansion may be ot the form shown in Fig. 5, is put into the opening ot the container 26, with or without a gasket 8 between the con tainer and the flange ofthe closure. The expander is then placed in the closure, the worm 32 is turned by the handle 35 and com- Fiach ot the segments 19` municates motion to the worm gear 31 and thereby causes the member 16 to rotate, the rollers 17 in the member riding along the inner peripheries 23 of the segments 19 until they reach the elements 27, which they will torce outward and therewith also the segments until they reach the outermost position, shown in dot-and-dash lines in Fig. 3 and indicated by full-line position of one segment in Fig. d. Inl the latter ligure is shown how a segment is moved to the outermost position when its element is in radial alignment with a roller and the member 16. l/Vhen the segments have been moved to this position, the closure wall and the contacting container wall are expanded, as shown in Fig. 6, and, as a result of the expansion, a tight seal has then been 'formed tor the container. order to release the expand-er 10 trom the closure-expanding position, it is only necessary to manipulate the handle 35 and thereby to rotate the member 16 so that the rollers 17 are moved; away from' the elements 27. The annular spring 30 in the grooves 29 will then automatically return the segments to their non-expanding position and thereby allow the operator to withdraw the expander from the closure 25.

From the foregoing description it is clear that by means ot the worm gearing a mini mum ofellort is required tor application of a great power in order to elect the expansion of a closure quickly and easily. It is also obvious that the seal effected b y my expander will be free from kinks, since the segments act simultaneously `and expand the closure uniformly at' all points.

l claim:

1. ln a closure expander, a disk; a central member rotatably mounted on the disk; a plurality ot rollers secured to the member; a plurality oit segments slidably secured to the disk outside of the member; means contacting with the rollers for causing the segments to move outward to closure-expanding position when the member is rotated; and means for rotating said member.

2. A round closure expander comprising at least three assembled segments of a disk adapted for insertion within the closure, and cam means concentric with said disk and rotatable about its center for vsinmltaneously forcing said segments apart to expand the closure equally throughout its periphery.

3. 1n a closure expander, a disk having at one side a bearing bracket integral therewith; a shaft rotatably mounted in the disk and the bracket; a worm gear secured to the sha-ft between the bracket and the disk; a worm engaging the worm gear and having a shaft rotatably mounted in the bracket and extending at one side oil the bracket; a member secured to the shaft at the side of the disk opposite to the bracket; rollers secured to the member and extending beyond the periphery thereof; segments slidably secured to the disk outside of the member, said segments having circular outer peripheries; and an element integral with each segment and projecting therefrom toward the member, said elements being adapted to contact with the rollers for causing the segments to move outward to closure expanding position when the member is rotated by the turning ott the worm shaft.

4. In a closure expander, a disk having at one side a bearing bracket integral therewith; a shatt rotatably mounted in the disk andthe bracket; a worm gear secured to the shaft between the bracket and the disk; a worm engaging the worm gear and having a shaft rotatably mounted in the bracket and eX- tending at one side of the bracket; a member secured to the shaft at the side of the disk opposite to the bracket; rollers secured to the member and extending beyond the periphery thereof; segments slidably secured to the disk outside oit the member, said segments having grooved, circular outer peripheries; an element integral with each segment and projecting there-from toward the member, said elements being adapted to Contact with the rollers for causing the segments to move outward to closureexpanding position when the member is rotated by the turning of the worm shaft: and an annular springin the grooves of the segments for moving the segments inward from the elosureexpanding position when the member is rotated by the turning of the worm shaft so that the rollers are moved away from said elements.

5. ln a closure expander, a disk having at one side a bearing bracket integral therewith: a shaft rotatably mounted in the disk and the bracket: a worm gear secured to the shatt between the bracket and the disk; a worm en ;agingthe worm gear and having a shaft rotatably mounted in the bracket and extending at one side of the bracket: a member secured to the shaft at the side of the disk opposite to the bracket; rollers secured to the member and extending beyond the periphery thereof; segments slidably secured to the disk outside of the member, each of the segments being 'truste-conical in shape at its outer periphery and extending beyond the disk periphery; and an element integral with each segment and projecting therefrom toward the member, said elements being adapted to Contact with the rollers 'for causing the segments to move outward to closure-expanding position when the member is rotated by the turning of the worm shaft.

6. In a closure expander, a disk having at one side a bearing bracket integral therewith; a shaft rotatably mounted in the disk and the bracket; a worm gear secured to the shaft between the bracket and the disk; a worm engaging the worm gear and having a siatt rotatably mounted in the bracket and extending at one side of the bracket; a member secured to the shaft at the side of the disk opposite to the bracket; rollers secured to the member and extending beyond the periphery thereof; segments slidably secured to the disk outside of the member, Y

each of the segments being frusto-conicalin shape at its outer periphery and provided with a groove therein, and the periphery of the segment extending` beyond theV disk periphery; an element integral with each segment and projecting therefrom toward the member, said elements being adapted to contact with the rollers for causing the segments to move outward to closure-expanding positionwhen the member is rotated by the turning of the worm shaft; and an annular spring in the grooves of the segment-s for moving the segments inward from the closure-expanding position when the member is rotated by the turning of the worm sha-tt so that the rollers are moved away from said elements. l

In testimony whereof l aiiix my signature.

SEWARD B. MERRY. 

